Nolan Melchin Memorial Outdoor Classroom – Laurel Creek

The Nolan Melchin Memorial Outdoor Classroom will not only honour Nolan’s love of nature, but will also greatly enhance the outdoor learning experience for the thousands of children who visit Laurel Creek each year. The Laurel Creek Nature Centre is a prime location for class trips for every school within Waterloo Region. In addition, it is home to Camp Kummoniwannago, a summer camp for children ages 5-13. As shown on the design board for our project, three important sections of the Laurel Creek Nature Centre will be improved.

The research area – We will create child-sized discovery tables, and add trees for natural shade

The “hill” (a prominent meeting location for children and instructors) – We will create amphitheatre style seating, an instructional stage, and trees for natural shade

The chickadee feeding station – We will create a new and improved station for this fun and exciting activity

Our project is unique due to its personalized design, and meaning. Thanks to Earthscape for the project design. Earthscape is a company that prides itself on their ability to align children’s play with nature. By working with the GRCF and Earthscape, we are creating an amazing space for children of all ages to learn about nature, while playing with nature.

Our entire project will be organized, and implemented, by volunteers. The opportunity for people to get involved, on whatever level they desire, is tremendous. We have already reached out to a number of high school students looking to complete their volunteer hours, and have recruited them for assistance with our fundraising events.

We have used social media and word of mouth to recruit adult volunteers needed so far, and the support has been tremendous. We look forward to working with everyone who wishes to get involved!